Alex Batty lands back in UK six years after being ‘kidnapped’ by mum and grandad

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Alex Batty has landed back in the UK more than six years after he first went missing, with French media capturing the moment he arrived home.

The boy, from Oldham in Greater Manchester, was 11 when he vanished while travelling with his family in October 2017. He hadn't been seen since, the Daily Star previously reported., but has now returned to his home city having landed back in Manchester earlier tonight accompanied by British police officers.

It is thought he spent his days in a "spiritual community" at the foot of the Pyrenees Mountains in France before making a break for it and being picked up by a lorry driver, who alerted authorities. Now the teen has finally come back to Britain following a police investigation.

READ MORE: Alex Batty: Everything we know about missing Brit boy found in France after six years

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Alex's flight landed at around 8.10pm today (December 16), at Manchester Airport, having flown from France to Amsterdam, before heading to his final destination. French prosecutors previously said: "The Alex Batty mystery is about to be solved. Although he did not show any official document to the gendarmes (police) who took him in, this young 17-year-old boy provided his identity on his own.

"His face and his story correspond in every way to that of the Briton kidnapped in 2017. This Thursday the Toulouse public prosecutor confirmed that it is indeed Alex Batty."

Although after speaking with his grandmother Susan Caruana, who is content with the teen being the missing boy, police in the UK will be making further checks.

Alex was with his mother Melanie Batty and grandfather David Batty, then 37 and 58 respectively, when he vanished. The pair had been forbidden from being with the boy at the time of his disappearance as a result of domestic difficulties.

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After a two-week trip to Marbella, Spain, the family were due to come back to the UK but failed to return. Police then launched an inquiry after Alex remained unaccounted for.

Alex’s grandmother Caruana, who is his official guardian, said she reckoned the group may have adopted "an alternative lifestyle". Speaking out at the time, she said: "They didn't want [Alex] to go to school, they don't believe in mainstream school."

Investigators reckon Alex escaped from a rural community living near the Pyrenees mountain range. The boy is believed to have spent days hiking before a lorry driver picked him up.

However, the motorist reportedly became suspicious of Alex's circumstances and got in touch with police. When questioned by detectives, the youngster "recounted his incredible journey, serenely and calmly," La Depeche added.

"His story has been verified and appears to correspond to reality," the publication said. "Following this hearing, the teenager was entrusted to the department's social services, while waiting for his relatives to come forward."

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